April 20, 2010

Finally, the big day arrives….

Today is April 20th, “Yom Ha’Atzmaut,” Israel’s Independence Day. It was on this date in the Hebrew calendar, 62 years ago, that Israel officially became a state.

April 20th is also Hitler’s birthday; he was born on this day in 1889 in Braunau am Inn in Austria.

And it is the anniversary of the Columbine massacre which was blamed at first on neo-Nazi students. Only later, it was learned that the students who perpetrated the massacre were Jewish.

April 19th is the anniversary of the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, so we can also celebrate that, a day late, today.

The charming town of Braunau am Inn, Hitler's birthplace

4/20 is also associated with marijuana smoking. A weekly newspaper in my city has its entire edition devoted to marijuana smoking, with a list of places where one can buy medical marijuana. Four twenty refers to the time 4:20 p.m. and also to the date 4/20.

So whatever your beliefs, today is your day to celebrate. Happy April 20th everyone!

(The title of my post today is from a children’s story, but I can’t remember the name of it. It was a story that I used to read to my kids.)